SFC Meeting

April 9, 2009

Attendance

Justin Spencer, Kate Nelson, Ashley Ahrens, Sharon McConnell, Diane Dandeneau, Juli Waugh, Coco Gordon, Erin Humphrey

New Opportunities/Projects

• Outreach to Local Businesses- Make them aware of existing MEAN lighting program, Excel energy gas rebates, PACE STEPP grant opportunities
  • Information in utility bill, tap into the Chamber, etc.
  • Kate will take on this project
• Coco to attend Financial Permaculture Summit and report back to the group
  • A forum where participants will create business proposals combined with cutting edge ecological business technologies to create profit driven sustainable solutions
• Explore the possibility of Lyons producing its own power through such means as wind turbines and solar; explore partnering with other small towns/cities in our vicinity as well

Net Metering

• Justin has attempted to get in touch with Trustee Donnell but Brian has not yet responded; Juli will f/u with Brian

Energy Efficiency DOLA Grant

• Lyons was awarded $25K for energy efficient bulbs in existing light fixtures on Main and High Streets and surrounding side streets
• Howard Armstrong, Town Administrator, discovered an error in the price quoted for the bulbs- price quoted was for full fixtures, not bulbs, so Lyons submitted much more than needed to replace bulbs in these lamps
• Juli is scheduled to meet with Howard and other town staff on Tuesday, April 14^th to discuss an action plan to use the full $25K awarded, while staying within the confines on the original grant language; will report back at next meeting

SFC Web Page

• Kathy asked that all members of the SFC submit a brief bio for the website; so far Kate has submitted a bio

Utility Bill Rate Structure

• MEAN/NMPP provided the town with a suggested rate structure but their proposal is not what we had in mind philosophically
  • Suggested an inverted summer rate structure, where use is discouraged in the summer months but encouraged in winter months thereby satisfying the town’s need of an overall rate increase to meet its current energy costs
  • Justin to explore a structure that would promote less energy use while still maintaining the town’s need to pay for its energy needs

Action Items

The group as a whole devised a list of SFC projects with timelines, combining ideas proposed by the SFC and goals of the Boulder County Sustainable Energy Plan (SEP)- see chart below: